Aw, Make Me Cry Why Don't You? What Aubrey's up to...

Just when I go to bed wondering if I spent enough time with Aubrey this day (She's definitely a quality and quantity time person) and wondering if I'm doing enough for her, and hoping she knows how much I love her, I get these notes from her:

"Mom, you make my life so good" and "mom your lunches are sooo good." Oh my word! Make my cry why don't you!

It just goes to show, all you moms like me out there, that even though you might doubt yourself sometimes, you're doing much better than you think you are.

Some other things about Aubrey these days:

Every day, when we head to school, she wonders, "I hope Alyssa is there today!" Like somehow this little new friend she made just might not show up, or get switched to another class or just decided not to come to school. I think it's so funny... friends are always so important to girls, even in the second grade.

I'm glad to report piano practicing is getting SO much better. Now that we've hit the 9 month mark for playing, it's finally starting to come together for her a little bit more, and she can actually play songs that are like, real songs, and it has boosted her confidence a lot. She is so proud of this one song she has been learning called Christmas Parade. It's a lot of chords (say that with a "ch" sound instead of "c" if you're Aubrey) and she's so proud of herself. It actually gives her a good reason to practice now... because she knows the end result of it. The songs are still elementary, but it's not a battle like it used to be to get her to practice. In fact, yesterday, she played her fifteen minutes and then didn't want to stop, and taught herself a song she's not even assigned this week. So, I think (I hope) we're turning a corner. Wahoo!

This closed door is a welcome sight. Because, I'm also happy to report the door phobia issue is getting better with Aubs. For the longest time, she's had problems shutting the door behind her in any place, out of fear she'll get stuck. I don't know where this phobia came from, but we've been struggling with it for years, probably since she was 3, and it's especially problematic when it comes to the bathroom-- for privacy purposes, obviously. And she went for a long time not shutting the stall door at school in the bathrooms. Because she was afraid. So sad. But, she's recently gotten SO much better at shutting the door behind her, without panicking and freaking out. And I know she closes the door at school, and so that is such a relief. If we could only get her to stay in her own room at night...

Now that it's the end of summer, she's figured out swimming and gained a ton of confidence there also. She finally figured out how to stroke with her arms and that helps her swim so much better. When she couldn't pull with her arms, she would kind of doggie paddle with her face in the water and it was not relaxed swimming at all. Now, she can swim and she looks so much more at ease, and she can go farther, which is so good for her confidence in the pool. Before, it was like she thought swimming was like this elusive skill that magically happened, and now she realizes the power to keep herself afloat is within her, and that is really good. She can also swim on her back too, and it just all of a sudden happened, it finally clicked in her mind how to do it. So that's exciting.

We recently sang in church and originally it was going to be just Chad and I, but then Aubrey asked if she could join us, and so of course we wanted her to. We chose the song, I Love To See the Temple, because that is a special song to our family, and also because we sing it every time we go past the temple, so Aubrey knows it really well. She was excited on our rehearsal in the chapel, but when we got up during the meeting, and she saw all the people watching us, she got a little nervous. She kinda turned around like she wanted to bury her face in my shoulder, but I turned her around and held her hand, and we started to sing and she did so well. She came right in when she was supposed to, and was in tune and didn't hesitate with the words after that initial fear. We were really proud of her. It was one of those near perfect moments.

I can really see in Aubrey the emerging ability to distinguish right from wrong. The other day, I heard Andrew crying, and initially she said she had nothing to do with it, (to which I had my doubts), but then a little while later, confessed she actually had done something to him, apologized to me, and then apologized to Andrew. So this is good. It might seem like a little thing, but to me, I can totally see how 8 years old is the age of accountability. And hopefully her recognizing what's right and what's wrong means I've been teaching her, right?

Lest you think Aubs is now seven and all grown up, here's a couple things that will remind you she's still my funny little girl:

Playing house with Andrew, (apparently it was nighttime): "Andrew, boys don't have beauty rest, they have HANDSOME rest!"

And, I love this sign on her door:

Plastered with princess stickers, so as to leave no doubt about what's beyond the door, the words, "No Boys Allowed." That's so Aubrey.

Stay tuned for an update on the boys in this household also.